Articles by this author

ViewsSaturday, September 23, 2017Home Tweet HomeKnowing I lov’d my books, he furnish’d me, From mine own library with volumes that I prize above my dukedom. —Shakespeare, The Tempest It was simply two coincidences that gave birth to the thought. It started on September 14, 2017. That was the day that conservative columnist and commentator, Ann...Read more

ViewsSunday, September 17, 2017Kobach and Windmills"'Vote early and vote often,' the advice openly displayed on the election banners in one of our northern cities." — William Porcher Miles 1858, Speech in the House of Representatives A number of you have written asking if Wikipedia is wrong. They cannot believe that Kris Kobach, the man whose...Read more

ViewsSaturday, September 09, 2017DACA: Dreams Become NightmaresBut I being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams — William Butler Yeats, He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven It is the thought that counts-not the amount that funded the thought. I refer, of course, to the extraordinarily...Read more

ViewsSaturday, August 26, 2017In Alabama, You Can't Keep a Good Man Down... Old times there are not forgotten... Dixie Land Alabama is back. It hadn't gone far, but whenever it returns, it fills the heart of the observer with wonder. Its most recent re-entry onto the national stage is occasioned by its September run-off election to fill the senate seat left vacant when...Read more

ViewsSaturday, August 19, 2017More Banking FolliesA power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests . . . and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks. —John Calhoun, May 27, 1836 Speech It was a sad coincidence. It occurred within a couple...Read more

ViewsSaturday, July 22, 2017A Letter to TrumpWhen one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. —Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali (1913) Dear Mr. Trump, Forgive me for not addressing you as president but the words do not permit themselves to be formed when I think of that word and you. If you read my columns you have probably...Read more

ViewsSaturday, July 15, 2017Sons and DaughtersChildren Should Be Seen and Not Heard. Anonymous It had to be an incredibly exciting day for her. Of course, “Take your daughter to work” days are always exciting for the children. They get to watch their mothers and fathers as they engage in the routines that, for the parents, are quite ordinary,...Read more

ViewsSaturday, July 08, 2017DeVos and DefraudingD’ye think th’ colledges has much to do with th’ progress iv th’ wurruld?” Asked Mr. Hennessey. “D’ ye think ,” said Mr. Dooley, “tis the mill that makes th’ wather run?” — Finley Peter Dunne [Mr. Dooley], Colleges and Degrees The good news is that the DJT administration has finally come up with a...Read more

ViewsSaturday, June 24, 2017When the Violence Comes Around...What’s all the shootin’ for? — George Michael Cohan, The Tavern It was one of nine mass shootings that occurred that week. It might have surprised some people to see how much publicity it got. None of the others got even a fraction of that. It was, of course, noteworthy, since it involved members...Read more

ViewsSaturday, June 17, 2017Humpty Trumpty“‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master-that’s all...Read more